He added, “We are prepared to pay for rooms, food, expenses and flights to bring back witnesses from Australia, if they are needed to convict the killers.”
He said the hotel had eight CCTV cameras on the outside, covering the street, and 23 security guards, working in shifts.
But, he said, “We care about our guests – we see them as our responsibility. But we never imagined that something this horrible would happen to our guests.
“I know that this will damage the image of Thailand as a tourist destination. I have told my staff to stay in touch with Ms Tammee [Lee – who was slashed on the arm by the attackers], even after she is back in Australia to see if there is anything we can do for her.”
Pol Col Sirisak Warasiri, superintendent of Chalong Police Station, whose territory includes Kata, “I feel very sad about this situation. No one likes to see this sort of thing happen.
“We have already checked all the CCTV cameras in the area. We know which way the attackers went, we know the bike was a Honda Dream and we know that they are around 25 years old. Both were wearing jeans. The driver was wearing a white shirt and the passenger a denim shirt.
“Our technical experts are trying to enhance the footage so that we can see the number of the bike and the faces of the killers more clearly.”
At a separate meeting at Provincial hall this afternoon, the commanding officers of all Phuket’s police stations met with representatives of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), the Provincial Office of Tourism and Sports (OTS) and the Phuket Tourist Association (PTA) to discuss what appears to be a crime wave in the Karon, Kata and Chalong areas.
Col Sirisak said he believed that the problem arose because of the rising population and increasing drug dealing and abuse.
Sarayuth Mallum, vice-president of the PTA, asked why tourists were so often the targets of crime.
Col Sirisak said it was because tourists came to the island for a short time and did not understand the dangers. When there was trouble, they had difficulties in distinguishing one Thai face from another.
In addition, some victims failed to report crimes because they were worried about becoming entangled in a legal process they did not understand. The criminals know this and take advantage.
Mr Sarayuth said that, 10 years ago, there was a B600 million plan for a comprehensive system of police cars, CCTV cameras and a surveillance centre to provide security for the whole island.
However, the government of the time allocated only B20 million.
He noted, however, that Patong has a good security system with good security coverage. As an example of how well it worked, he cited the recent case of the Australian woman who claimed to have been raped in a tuk-tuk. CCTV footage was able to show that she was never in a tuk-tuk.
The meeting recommended:
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Resurrecting a network of volunteers equipped with walkie-talkies who could track criminals and inform police of their whereabouts. The network was originally created after the 2004 Asian Tsunami, but has fallen into disuse.
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Installing more CCTV cameras. This would require considerable budgets for the cameras and also for training operators. Alternatively, an outside security company might be contracted to install and manage cameras on the island.
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Printed cards be handed out to all arrivals at the airport, warning of possible dangers in Phuket and ways to avoid them.